SpectroMagic
'SpectroMagic '''was an evening parade presented at the Magic Kingdom park at the Walt Disney World Resort. Produced by longtime Disney Show Producer Ron Logan, it is similar to the Main Street Electrical Parade, which was its predecessor and its successor. The parade incorporates elaborate, brightly lit floats, a musical score, and many sound effects. The floats are populated with Disney characters and represent scenes from Disney's movies and short films. History The parade went on a hiatus on May 21, 1999, when the Main Street Electrical Parade made its return to the Magic Kingdom. SpectroMagic returned on April 2nd, 2001, with the following changes: *Spectro-men have new heads. *Genie (from ''Aladdin) replaced Roger Rabbit (from Who Framed Roger Rabbi''t) as the conductor of the parade. *Sebastian (from ''The Little Mermaid) Animatronic and bubble system added to King Triton's float. *Jiminy Cricket Animatronic added to the finale float. Opening Announcement Unlike the Main Street Electrical Parade (which welcomes spectators with a synthesized voice provided by Jack Wagner), SpectroMagic's opening announcement is provided by Jiminy Cricket, who says: "Welcome to the splendor, the spectacle, the sparkling sensation, where the romance, the comedy, and thrill of Disney fantasies come to electric life.... And now the Magic Kingdom proudly presents, in a million points of musical light, the magical world of Disney in SpectroMagic!” Music The main theme for SpectroMagic ("On This Magic Night") was composed by movie composer John Debney. Together with Steve Skorija, he arranged music by Disney composers into a 14-minute suite. The parade's scenic designer was Ken Dresser. Floats *Entrance Unit with Trumpeters *Title Unit heralding SpectroMagic *Spectro-Men on Whirly-balls (4 pods) *Mickey Unit *Music Unit (3 units hitched) *Sleeping Beauty Garden Unit 1 (Peacock) *Sleeping Beauty Garden Unit 2 *Sleeping Beauty Garden Unit 3 (Waterfall on back) *Giant Fish Unit *Bubble Fish Unit (3 units hitched) *Ursula Unit (1 pod) *Little Mermaid Unit (3 units hitched) *Whirly Fish (2 pods) *Fantasia Opening Unit with Spinning Hippo *Baracus Unit (Fountain with Ostrich's) *Diana Unit (3 units hitched)(Flying horses) *Chernabog Unit *First Finale Unit (3 units hitched) *(The 3 Little Pigs, Cinderella and Alice in Wonderland) **Carousel Unit **Second Finale Unit (3 units hitched) *(Peter Pan, Pinocchio and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs) Technical Information In the parade there are 29 units, and 7 whirly units giving a grand total of 36 units in the parade. Disney refers to floats as "units." Each unit has a driver cleverly hidden in the unit. All audio is controlled through DTMF tones transmitted by RF signals from the antennas on Cinderella's Castle to each unit. Each unit has its own audio themed to the unit, with the main parade theme played on the zone speakers. Each zone is anywhere between 70 to 80 ft in length. The audio is stored on the unit as digitally encoded information. All the audio and other effects are stored in DACS (Digital Automation Control System). The lighting effects and other special effects are all controlled by on-board computers which initiate their own cues using a Programmable Logic Controller. The cues are sent via the antennas to the units. The main control center is located under Main Street, U.S.A. The PC (Production Center) is where all Magic Kingdom parades are stored. It is located behind Pirates of the Caribbean and Splash Mountain. In its original run in 1991, most units used Amiga software developed by Richmond Sound Design Ltd. running on Amiga computers to generate animations that were synchronized via MIDI Time Code with the local audio and projected onto the side of the unit. Sources & External Links *Wikipedia Category:Former parades Category:Former entertainment Category:Former Walt Disney World entertainment Category:Former Magic Kingdom entertainment